Dr Ian R K Paisley, MP, MEP, MLA
The Freedom of the Borough of Ballymoney was conferred on Dr Ian R K Paisley, MP, MEP, MLA, on 21st October 2000. Dr Paisley has served the community for thirty years as a Member of Parliament for the constituency of North Antrim and twenty-one years as member of the European Parliament for Northern Ireland.
This Council hereby records its appreciation of this unique electoral record, reorganising the will of the citizens of the borough and further afield; congratulates him on his success; and thanks him for tireless efforts to represent his constituents, without fear or favour, being the voice of the voiceless, serving their interest in all institutions. This service has been marked with his unique sense of humour, spirit of generosity and deep felt concern for the interest of all his constituents no matter what class, age or creed.
Background and History
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley was born in the City of Armagh on 6th April 1926, the second son of Rev. James Kyle and Mrs. Isabella Paisley. His father was the pastor of Armagh Baptist Church, a church which was built largely through the gospel campaigns, which he himself conducted in Armagh and the surrounding towns and villages.
When Ian was just over two years of age his father received a call to Ballymena Baptist Church, and so the family moved from the City of Armagh to the market town of Ballymena, also known as The City of the Seven Towers. In due course he and his older brother attended the Ballymena Model School where they received a good grounding in the “three r’s – reading, writing and arithmetic”.
Another event, which made a great impact on Ian’s life, occurred when he was just six years of age, when after a children’s meeting conducted by his mother he received Christ as his Saviour.
His father held evangelistic meetings around County Antrim and on many occasions Ian travelled with him and so got to know and love the people he met, and early learned to enter into their joys as well as their sorrows. These experiences were to stand him in good stead as life opened up before him.
After attending Ballymena technical college his intentions were to enter Agricultural College and so he went to live and work on a farm in County Tyrone. During his time there he experienced the call of God to enter the Christian ministry, and in order to prepare himself for this call, he went to the South Wales Bible College in Barry, Glamorgan. After completing his studies there he entered the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Hall in Belfast and was highly commended for his knowledge of the Word of god. He received a call to be a minister of Ravenhill Evangelical Mission Church, a small independent work on Ravenhill Road.
After labouring there for some years, the building became too small and, eventually, after enlarging the accommodation and for a time hiring the Ulster hall for the Sunday services, a new church had to be erected.
While all this work was going on, the political situation in Ulster was deteriorating, and many people from various parts of Northern Ireland who were greatly concerned, visited him and pleaded with him to enter the political arena and champion their cause. To the fore in these pleadings were the people of North Antrim, and after much prayer and soul-searching as well as long discussions with his church elders who gave him their blessing and support, he entered the political fray.
The rest of the story - so far – is history. After winning the seat for Bannside in the Stormont Parliament, a few months later he also won the North Antrim seat in the Westminster Parliament, a seat which he has held successfully and successively since 1970, with a political turn-over which is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. In 1979 he contested the first election for the European Parliament, topping the poll, which again he has done on all five occasions.
Ian Paisley has never asked anyone to do anything, which he himself was not prepared to do. Without thought for himself but because of his dearly held Christian principles and Protestant convictions, he has been imprisoned on three occasions.
It can truthfully be said of him that he has served all his constituents, not only in North Antrim but also throughout Ulster, with fairness and diligence and without fear or favour, in every forum to which he has been elected. In all his endeavours he has had the full support of his wife and family.